Avon Grove administrators present at Keystone State Literacy Association Conference

EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

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Borough officials thanked the award recipients for their professionalism and dedication to the Kennett Square community.

Dinniman raises $112,000 to champion diversity initiatives

Andrew E. Dinniman, the former State Senator and County Commissioner, continues to work to improve the Chester County community.

He recently surpassed his goal of raising $100,000 to create the Dinniman Together Fund: Diversity Inclusion & Equity Endowment at West Chester University. A total of approximately $112,000 has been raised so far.

The focus of the fund is to promote diversity and equity through a renewed emphasis on our common humanity. This announcement coincided with the anniversary of the final public speech of Frederick Douglass, which was held on the campus of West Chester State Normal School on February 1, 1895. More than a century later, the Dinniman Together Fund will continue the conversation by providing resources to support an annual gathering where the research and teaching knowledge of WCU faculty, past and present, may be shared with the greater Chester County community.

At West Chester University, Dinniman received the President’s Medallion for Service in 2015 and was named emeritus director of the Center for International

As a result of the measurable literacy growth of learners throughout the district during the COVID19 pandemic, Avon Grove School District (AGSD) literacy leaders were selected to present at the Keystone State Literacy Conference (KSLA), held recently at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center.

The theme for the 2022 conference was “Literacy Lessons,” which provided the opportunity for AGSD’s Kristin Bulgarelli, Kim Hall, Kelly Harrison and Patti Schmaltz to showcase the lessons learned and results achieved throughout their literacy initiative. The district consistently works to ensure that literacy is the foundation for all learning. In fact, the theme of “Illuminating Literacy” has been a staple for AGSD for several years. The literacy theme became more strategic in the 2021-2022 school year, as the need to address learning loss grew apparent after the pandemic. At Penn London Elementary School and Avon Grove Intermediate School, the district made efforts to provide professional development to teachers, which improved instructional practices.

Bulgarelli and Janine Presloid, a literacy consultant from the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), teamed up to provide a presentation titled, “Differentiating Professional Development: Make a Difference When Developing Readers” at the conference. Their session demonstrated how the CCIU and AGSD partnered to support teachers in grades 3-4 by using data to plan for and deliver intentional, flexible, smallgroup instruction framed through the science of reading.

Hall, Harrison and Schmaltz provided a one-hour overview of the systematic process used in a large K-2 building to provide differentiated professional learning opportunities for English Language Arts (ELA) teachers. The collaborative approach increased reading scores and created significant improvements in reading classrooms throughout the school.

The Keystone State Literacy Association annual conference is an exciting opportunity for professional development, networking and sourcing materials for classroom use. The conference con- sists of a broad audience, including classroom teachers, reading specialists, curriculum specialists, administrators and other educators.

To learn more about the Keystone State Literacy Association Conference, visit: https://ksla.wildapricot.org/Conference.

Programs and Educational Development in 2021. During his time there, he taught undergraduate courses including African American History, Racial and Ethnic Understanding, and Global Studies, as well as graduate courses in public policy. He has served as director of both the Ethnic Studies Institute and the Center for International Programs. In October of 2022, the West Chester Area Chamber of Commerce presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Square Roots Collective...

Continued from Page 1A funnels the income from The Creamery of Kennett Square and at least two future venues – all nonprofit organizations -- into the vital fabric of Kennett Square.

“The idea of the initiative is to create sustainable community benefits through for-profit entities and have those profits help to fund non-profit initiatives,” said Luke Zubrod, Square Roots Collective’s chief of staff, who serves on SRCI’s board with SRC’s Finance Associate Stephanie Almanza. “Wherever there is an existing or emerging partnership that advances the common good tends to be where we look to place funds.”

The work of the SRCI is already underway. Eight local agencies have so far become beneficiaries of $156,000 in total funding disbursed in 2022:

• Borough of Kennett Square: $48,000

• Kennett Trails Alliance:

$25,000

• Voices Underground:

$25,000

• United Way of Southern Chester County: $20,000

• Brandywine Red Clay

Alliance: $20,000

• Lincoln University

Foundation of

Pennsylvania: $10,000

• Good Samaritan

Services: $5,000

• Kennett Collaborative: $3,000

While The Creamery now serves as SRCI’s sole income generator, the profits of two venues, once completed, will be folded within the initiative.

The Star & Lantern, a cocktail bar for which construction was paused due to structural deficiencies with the historic property, will open in the Creamery’s boiler room and represent the work of the Voices Underground project, a SRC partnership with Lincoln University and Longwood Gardens that promotes the history of The Underground Railroad as part of a larger mission of promoting racial healing through storytelling.

“The entire theme of this concept, from the art on the wall to the names of the cocktails to the stories on the menus, is to encourage curiosity around the history of The Underground Railroad,” said SRC founder Mike Bontrager in a 2021 interview.

Another of SRCI’s income source will be the Birch Street Inn, now in the design stage, which will eventually open as a 14-room boutique hotel and restaurant.

On Feb. 8, Zubrod was joined by Greg Thompson, the co-executive director of Voices Underground, at a presentation before the Kennett Borough Council about the economic, historic and community benefits of The Star & Lantern and the SRCI. In response, the Council has lent their support to the continued restoration of the Creamery and Star & Lantern and is encouraging the commonwealth to provide grant funding from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

“The Borough is thrilled to support this project, recognizing the substantial benefits to residents of the Borough by creating a robust engine for local economic growth and a true community anchor for continued Borough of Kennett Square collaborations and cultural pursuits,” wrote

Borough Council President Doug Doerfler in a Feb. 8 letter to Steve Heuer, director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of the Budget Bureau of Revenue, Capital and Debt. “We applaud SRC for spearheading this impactful redevelopment project and for working in close collaboration with local stakeholders.

“It is our hope that the associated RACP request will be carefully considered and ultimately approved for this important project.”

“The community has cause to be excited about the work on Birch Street, because it is fundamentally a project for their benefit,” Zubrod said. “When people visit The Creamery to enjoy a beer alongside their neighbors, the profits help fund a trail and address numerous other needs within our community.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.